Feb. 7, 2015
Teams: No. 11/12 Kentucky (17-5, 6-3) at Vanderbilt (13-10, 4-6)
Day, Date: Sunday, Feb. 8
Tip-off time: Noon (CT)
Site: Memorial Gym (Nashville, Tenn.)
Radio: 560 AM & 95.9 FM
TV: SEC Network
Tickets: Tickets can be purchased by calling 615-322-GOLD, visiting the McGugin Center ticket office or logging on to vucommodores.com.
The Vanderbilt women haven’t had much time to enjoy their dramatic comeback win over Ole Miss. Then again, most coaches and players agree that the best way to celebrate a victory is by building on it. And that’s what the Commodores (13-10, 4-6) will be trying to do Sunday when they host No. 11/12 Kentucky (17-5, 6-3) at noon. The contest — which will feature the annual Pink Out festivities at Memorial Gym — is expected to draw one of the biggest home crowds of the season for the Commodores, who will be looking to knock off a ranked opponent for the second time this season. Vanderbilt will enter the game on an emotional high after rallying back from a 16-point second-half deficit to beat Ole Miss, 58-54, on Thursday night. The Commodores closed the game on a 10-0 run, and outscored Ole Miss 38-14 over the final 13:54 of the contest. The victory enabled Vanderbilt to move into a tie with the Rebels for eighth place in the conference. The Commodores are one game behind seventh-place Georgia. Kentucky, meanwhile, hasn’t played since last Sunday, when the Wildcats downed Georgia, 80-72, in Lexington. The Wildcats are tied with Texas A&M for fifth place in the standings and are vying for one of the top four seeds — and a double-bye — at next month’s SEC Tournament. Here’s a look at a few of the storylines surrounding Sunday’s game:
l MILD THING, YOU MAKE OUR HEART SING: Vanderbilt’s Kristen Gaffney, the mild-mannered redshirt sophomore, was among the biggest heroes in Thursday’s comeback win over Ole Miss. She delivered the game-winning basket when she converted a layup with six seconds to play, breaking a 54-54 tie and giving the Commodores their first lead of the second half. Gaffney finished with just four points, but her late-game heroics enabled Vanderbilt to claim a victory that the Commodores desperately needed. The memorable moment was a long time in the making for Gaffney, who was sidelined her entire freshman season and most of last year by knee injuries. (She has suffered ACL injuries in both knees during her college career). Gaffney is one of the less emotional players on the roster, and head coach Melanie Balcomb has often said that Gaffney’s level-headedness has a calming effect on the other players during intense situations. “It takes a lot to get me excited,” Gaffney said with a smile after the win. Gaffney has seen action in 19 games this season, including making five starts, and is averaging 6.5 points and 3.1 rebounds per game. She has reached double figures in scoring in seven games this season.
l PLENTY OF PINK: Sunday’s contest will be the annual Pink-Out game, which is always one of the most special days of the season at Memorial Gym. Fans are encouraged to wear pink, and the Vanderbilt players will also be wearing special uniforms as the WBB program shows its support for the fight against breast cancer. Fans can pick up pink shakers, foam fingers and spirit cards — all for free — at the marketing tables. Also, there will be two T-shirt tosses during the game during which pink T-shirts will be thrown into the crowd. Vanderbilt players will be available for autographs on the gym floor shortly after the game. … At last season’s Pink Out game, the Commodres downed Texas A&M, 71-69, in a battle of nationally-ranked teams at Memorial Gym. Morgan Batey hit two free throws with 2.2 seconds remaining, and the Aggies narrowly missed a half-court short at the buzzer. Batey finished with 17 points.
l KEEP THEM OFF THE LINE: One of Vanderbilt’s top objectives in Sunday’s game will be preventing the Wildcats from making a steady march to the foul line. The Wildcats are averaging 28 free throws per game, which ranks No. 2 in the nation. Kentucky, which is shooting 65.8 percent from the line, has attempted 620 free throws this season. To put that in perspective, consider this: Nine other teams in the conference — including Vanderbilt — have attempted 490 or less.
l SCOUTING THE WILDCATS: Led by senior point guard Jennifer O’Neill, who is the tied for second in the SEC in scoring at 15.0 points per game, Kentucky has been one of the SEC’s most explosive teams this season. The Wildcats rank second in the conference in scoring (76.8) behind only undefeated and top-ranked South Carolina (78.0). Surprisingly, though, the Wildcats are not one of the better shooting teams in the SEC. They rank ninth in field goal percentage (39.7), 11th in 3-point shooting (28.3) and 10th in free-throw shooting (65.8). … The Wildcats’ defense is surrendering an SEC-worst 68.5 points per game, and opponents are shooting 41.1 percent from the floor against Kentucky, which is also the worst mark in the conference. … Kentucky does, however, rank fourth in blocked shots (4.2 bpg) and sixth in steals (10.6 spg). … In addition to O’Neill’s strong season, UK is also getting steady contributions from Makayla Epps (13.8 ppg) and Linnae Harper (11.2). … Harper is Kentucky’s top rebounder at 7.1 rpg, while O’Neil leads the team in 3-pointers (38) and 3-point attempts (115).
l SIZING UP THE SERIES: Sunday’s game marks the 48th meeting between the Vanderbilt and Kentucky, with the Commodores owning a 27-20 lead in the series. The Wildcats have been in control of late, however, winning the past seven matchups, including three straight in Nashville (two at Memorial Gym and one in the SEC Tournament). … Vanderbilt is 14-6 all-time against UK in Nashville, but haven’t posted a win over the Cats at Memorial Gym since the 2009-10 season. … In the most recent game between the teams, Kentucky downed the Commodores 65-63 last season in Lexington in the regular-season finale on March 2. (More on that game below). … Vanderbilt head coach Melanie Balcomb has gone 10-8 against Kentucky during her tenure at VU. She is 6-3 against the Cats in Nashville. … The Commodores went 22-1 against the Cats from the beginning of the 1991-92 season through the end of the 2008-09 campaign. But VU is just 1-8 against Kentucky since.
l KENTUCKY’S SEASON RECAP: The Wildcats have been idle since last Sunday, when they downed Georgia, 80-72, in Lexington to improve to 6-3 in the conference and 11-1 at home. … Kentucky opened SEC play with three straight victories, but has gone 3-3 since. … Two of Cats’ three conference losses have come against Top-10 foes, including a 68-60 road loss to No. 1/1 South Carolina and a 73-72 home loss to No. 6/6 Tennessee. UK’s other SEC loss came at LSU. … Kentucky went 11-2 in non-conference play, including posting two victories over teams that were ranked in the Top-10 at the time — a 74-64 win over then-No. 8/9 Baylor on Nov. 17 and a 77-68 road win over then No. 7/7 Louisville on Dec. 7. … The Wildcats have put together four separate winning streaks of four games or longer this season.
l LOOKING BACK: When Vanderbilt visited Kentucky last season on March 2, the Wildcats held off the Commodores for a 64-62 victory in the regular season finale for both teams. Jasmine Jenkins’ potential game-trying shot missed the mark at the buzzer, sending the Commodores — who had fought back from a 17-point first-half-deficit — to their third straight loss. Former Vanderbilt standout Christina Foggie had a game-high 23 points and Jasmine Lister added 15 for the Commodores. DeNasha Stallworth led the Wildcats with 18. Kentucky owned a 32-15 lead at the 6:47 mark of the first half, but the Commodores fought back with an 18-2 run to cut Kentucky’s lead to 34-33 with 28 seconds left in the half. It stayed tight throughout the second half — with the teams never separated by more than five points — and the game was tied at 56-56 after Foggie made two free throws with 1:29 to go. Kentucky then built a 64-58 lead with 28 seconds left, but Foggie ripped off five quick points to pull Vanderbilt within 64-63 with 13 seconds to go. After Kentucky’s Bria Goss made 1-of-2 at the line, the Commodores had one final possession, but Jenkins’ tough shot at the buzzer missed the mark.
l MOST RECENT GAME: COMMODORES RALLY PAST REBELS: The Commodores posted one of their most memorable wins of the season on Thursday night, overcoming a 16-point second-half deficit to beat Ole Miss, 58-54. Kristen Gaffney scored the go-ahead basket with six seconds left and Morgan Batey added a pair of free throws to seal the victory. The dramatic win snapped a two-game skid for the Commodores (13-10, 4-6), who closed the game on a 10-0 run. It was VU’s 17th straight win against Ole Miss in Nashville. Vanderbilt outscored the Rebels 34-14 over the final 13:24 to flip a 40-24 deficit into the four-point victory. Freshman Rachel Bell finished with a team-high 16 points and Batey added 14 for the Commodores. Tia Faleru had 23 points and 13 rebounds before fouling out in the closing seconds for the Rebels (14-9, 4-6), who dropped their fifth straight game. Bell scored 13 of her 16 points during the final 14 minutes to fuel the Vanderbilt comeback, including hitting a pair of key 3-pointers during the surge. Vanderbilt’s Jasmine Jenkins tied the game at 54-54 with a jumper with 2:07 to go. Both teams then had several chances to move in front, but neither could score until Gaffney got loose for a layup with six seconds left. Gaffney was fouled on the play but missed the subsequent free throw. After the miss, Batey was fouled during a battle for the ball. Batey hit both free throws to seal the win.
l STAYING INSIDE THE ARC: Vanderbilt has historically been one of the most prolific 3-point shooting teams in the SEC, but that tradition hasn’t continued this season. In their first 10 SEC games, the Commodores have attempted only 97 shots from 3-point range (9.7 per game). They have made 30 of those attempts for an average of 3.0 per game, which ranks 11th in the conference. In the past seven games, Vanderbilt has taken just 53 shots from 3-point range (7.6 per game) and has made 17 of those attempts (2.4 per game). Early in the season, the Commodores were hoisting 3s with regularity, attempting 10 or more in 14 of their first 15 games. But they’ve done so only twice in the last eight games.
l HARD TIME SCORING: The Commodores have run into problems on the offensive end during SEC play. They are averaging 55.5 points per game, which ranks 12th in the SEC and is almost 10 points below their SEC average (65.4) from last season. Vanderbilt has been limited to 59 points or less in eight of its past nine SEC games, including scoring 49 or fewer points in three of those games (losses to Tennessee, LSU and Mississippi State). Vanderbilt appeared to be headed for another sub-50 score on Thursday night against Ole Miss, especially after scoring only 16 points in the first half (which marked the third time this season the Commodores have scored less than 20 points in a half). But the Commodores broke loose for 42 second-half points against the Rebels.
l WEBB AND FLOW: Marqu’es Webb showed last Sunday what she is capable of doing when she’s healthy. The sophomore post player scored a season-high 15 points and pulled down a career-high 12 rebounds while logging 28 minutes of playing time in Vanderbilt’s 67-58 loss to Florida. Nine of Webb’s 12 rebounds came on the offensive end, and she also had a pair of steals. Webb, who is shooting a team-high 57.5 percent from the floor, was sidelined by injuries for four games in December, and has seen her playing time limited to 15 minutes or less in six other games. She has played 25 minutes or more in just three games this season. Her numbers in those three games? She is averaging 13.0 points and 9.6 rebounds, and is shooting 65 percent from the floor (13-of-20). For the season, she is averaging 9.6 points and 6.8 rebounds in games in which she plays 20 or more minutes.
l IMPROVING THEIR RESUMÈ: Vanderbilt has posted a 1-5 record against ranked opponents this season, but the Commodores have several more chances to improve that mark in the next few weeks, including three matchups against teams currently ranked in the Associated Press Top-15. In addition to hosting No. 11/12 Kentucky on Sunday, the Commodores visit top-ranked South Carolina on Feb. 15 and travel to No. 6/6 Tennessee on March 1.
l INJURY REPORT: Redshirt sophomore Kendall Shaw and true freshmen Christa Reed and Khaléann Caron-Goudreau have each been sidelined by injuries over the past three weeks, which continues a season-long theme for the Commodores. Only twice in the first 22 games has head coach Melanie Balcomb had the luxury of having all 13 of her players available for action (the two games were against Tennessee and LSU). Overall, a total of seven Vanderbilt players — more than half the roster — have missed time this season due to injuries, illness or other reasons. Khaléann Caron-Goudreau has missed the most time, sitting out the first 12 games while recovering from an ankle injury and then missing the past eight games. Reed and Shaw have both been sidelined the past seven games with ankle injuries. Others who have missed multiple games include junior Heather Bowe (who was unavailable for the first eight games while serving a suspension for violation of academic policy), sophomore Marqu’es Webb (who missed four games in December with a knee injury) and Audrey-Ann Caron-Goudreau (who missed three games in December after sustaining a concussion in practice and then sat out the game against Florida due to illness). Freshman Rachel Bell and redshirt sophomore Kristen Gaffney have missed one game each with illness.
l ANOTHER NEW LOOK: The Commodores have used nine different starting lineups this season, with the latest new look coming last Sunday against Florida. Due to the absence of freshman Audrey-Ann Caron-Goudreau, who was unavailable due to the illness, the Commodores starting five included Heather Bowe, Marqu’es Webb, Rebekah Dahlman, Jasmine Jenkins and Morgan Batey, marking the first time this season that combination had been used. That same group was used again Thursday night against Ole Miss. Prior to last Sunday, the Commodores had gone seven consecutive games with the same starting five of Dahlman, Caron-Goudreau, Jenkins, Bowe and Batey. Before that seven-game stretch, head coach Melanie Balcomb had used eight different combinations through the first 14 games. All told, 10 of the 13 players on the Vanderbilt roster have seen their names in the starting lineup in various games this season, with Morgan Batey being the lone Commodore to start all 22 games. Here’s a quick look at who’s been used in starting lineup: Batey (22 games), Rebekah Dahlman (20), Audrey-Ann Caron-Goudreau (16), Jasmine Jenkins (13) Heather Bowe (12), Marqu’es Webb (8), Paris Kea (6), Kristen Gaffney (5), Rachel Bell (4) and Christa Reed (4).